Hesitation
by Pandonia Jeanette
Summary: In the aftermath of Volpina's akuma, Ladybug hesitates just as she is about to leave Adrien's room. So when the bathroom door opens behind her and Chat Noir steps out, she fears the worst.
(hops on the bandwagon of fanfics stemming from Volpina) I came up with this randomly and quickly wrote it out. I hope it hasn't been done yet!

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Ladybug pressed her hands against the pale white doors of a certain room in the Agreste household. Her heart pounded against her chest with growing worry. "Adrien?" she called. "Are you there?"

When Volpina took to the roofs of Paris carrying an illusion of him, Ladybug sensed a part of her beginning to rise to the surface. Marinette's tender heart collided into that of the dutiful Ladybug, bringing with it the powerful feelings of a girl hopelessly in love. It came with chilling fear, bottomless dread stemming from the mere thought that Adrien was in danger. From that moment on, Ladybug couldn't be more certain that she would do anything to ensure his safety. And that included giving up her Miraculous.

It was the aftermath of a battle. Adrien may have disappeared during Volpina's appearance, but the Akuma had been defeated and dealt with. Following Ladybug's healing wave, everything should have returned to normal. That meant Adrien Agreste should be back in his room, safe and sound.

Probably.

She had to check, just to be absolutely sure.

"Can I come in?" she asked, her hand already moving the door without waiting for his permission. Her ears filled with the rushing water of a shower. _Oh no, not again!_ Jumping back, Ladybug hurriedly slid the door shut.

"This is Ladybug," she said, feeling awkward. "Everything okay?" She was still having trouble keeping the bathroom incident from her last visit out of her head.

"Uh, yeah, yeah!" came Adrien's voice from the other side of the door, somewhat shaken, a little high pitched. "I had to grab a shower after all this excitement!"

"Oh! Yeah . . . sure!" she replied immediately, feeling that wave of relief. Adrien was home. Adrien was safe. Adrien's also . . . in the shower. "I'm sorry, I'll be off then, huh?" One of her dorky smiles found its way to her face, as it often did whenever the young model was around.

"Thank you!" he said from the bathroom.

Something about those two words made Ladybug feel her heart turn heavy. She could have sworn that there was something different in the way Adrien looked at Ladybug compared to Marinette. Perhaps she was imagining it. And judging from how he'd rather be in the shower than speak to her face to face, she probably was.

Sighing, she rested her head against the door. With or without the mask, Adrien Agreste had no interest in her.

That was when she decided it was time to leave Adrien be, and take her exit. She could hear her own footsteps echo as she made her way over to the open window. Grabbing her yoyo, Ladybug swung for the nearest building.

Something made her stop. She turned back to the bathroom door. The Akuma attack must have really exhausted him. Was he as alright as he claimed he was? _Maybe I should wait for Adrien to come out, then we could have a proper talk._

A series of rapid beeps from her Miraculous convinced her otherwise. It was time to go.

Then the door slid open behind her. She whipped her head around, convinced she was going to find Adrien standing behind her. Instead, she was met with another familiar face. He tried to step back into the bathroom, but both of them knew it was too late. The damage had been done.

Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. "Chat Noir?"

Indeed, her partner was now standing in the room. Chat Noir's emerald eyes widened. "Ladybug?" He must have expected her to be gone by now. Had he stepped out a few seconds later or had Ladybug hadn't been indecisive about her departure, that statement would have been true.

"Chat Noir, if you're here–" Her heart plummeted. "Where's Adrien?"

There was a second of silence. When Ladybug realized that Chat hesitated in his answer, she feared the worst.

Before she could leap out the window, Chat seized her wrist. "Ladybug, wait!" His voice sounded out against the panicked thoughts that went through her head. She fought against his hold.

"Chat Noir, what are you doing? I need to go find Adrien!"

He tugged against her arm. "My Lady," he said, strangely calm. A part of her refused to listen while something inside made her glance towards her partner, hoping to find some answers. He was here instead of Adrien, and that only set off another stream of endless questions. Why? How? For all she knew, Adrien was missing and she hadn't the slightest idea what happened to him. He could be in danger. He could be hurt. And if he was, she would have failed her duty as a superheroine.

The moment she felt a tear slip free from her eyes, Chat's hold on her changed. He held her with more care than anything she had ever felt. He was so gentle, even with those hands boasting sharp claws and the power of destruction. Another beep from her Miraculous sounded.

Chat Noir took a deep breath. "Ladybug. LB. Bugaboo." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright. Listen to me: Adrien's perfectly fine."

"How can you be so sure? How could you possibly know that? And why are you in his place?"

Chat Noir let out a sad chuckle, his black ears even drooping a little. "I'm not even going to try to get out of this one."

Ladybug shook her head at his statement, lost in confusion. "I don't understand," she whispered. Nothing made sense in her reeling and stuttering mind. Endlessly anxious, she swallowed as she dared to ask. "Chat Noir, where's Adrien?"

Chat grinned at her as a light green glow passed over him, revealing the warmhearted expression of Adrien Agreste. "I'm right here, My Lady."

Marinette felt her heart skip several beats as she felt half of her faint. Her first thought was that Adrien was safe from harm, and that revelation brought with it immense solace. Unfortunately, that would be the least of her worries. The boy she had been pining over for so long was right in front of her. Said boy was someone she occasionally had trouble controlling her nerves when talking to. Said boy was also the partner she had been exchanging witty banter with for months.

That meant Adrien had been the one calling her nicknames. Ladybug had been fighting alongside him ever since she donned the superhero mask. She had fought countless Akuma with him. She had _kissed Adrien_ to free him from Dark Cupid.

The sudden realization earned a squawk from her as she leapt back.

Nervously scratching the back of his neck, Adrien laughed as he turned away, his cheeks turning pink. "That surprised?"

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag," a small, black creature jeered from somewhere. Ladybug simply assumed it was Chat Noir's kwami. Ahem, _Adrien's_ kwami. He reached into his pocket and brought out a piece of camembert cheese, which the kwami took and quickly flew off.

Ever since Alya pointed out that Adrien looked somewhat like Chat Noir with a mask and a costume, Marinette had been trying to see things the other way. Of the millions of people in Paris, what were the odds that her partner was the same boy she couldn't stop thinking about? She simply didn't want to get her hopes up. It shouldn't have been possible. Yet, here they were.

Everything felt surreal.

She opened her mouth to speak, but found that no words came out. That was nothing new.

Adrien cleared his throat. "I know you probably don't want to see my civilian form, but I couldn't think of another way to convince you that Adrien was alright. And I didn't want to lie to you. Liars are losers, right?"

She couldn't help but laugh at him quoting herself from back when they fought Copycat. Her Miraculous beeped again. She must have been on her last minute.

Adrien gestured his head towards the window. There was a hint of remorse in his eyes, but it was almost so perfectly masked."Before you blow your cover, too."

Ladybug cast a single glance towards the sky outside. She could run off and keep her identity a secret. Or she could take the alternate option and just see what her partner would think of her out of uniform. Taking in a deep breath, she held her head high. "Since you revealed your identity, I guess it's only fair I reveal mine."

Her reply seemed to have caught Adrien off guard. Before he had a chance to protest, Ladybug felt a wash of energy run through her as Tikki left her Miraculous. She counted three seconds before she earned a proper response from Adrien. It was his turn to gawk in awe.

"Marinette?" he breathed.

She felt exposed and bare and felt the urge to hide behind the nearest couch and awkwardly wave. Surprising herself, she found the courage to plant her feet where it was and somehow managed a meek, "Hi, Adrien."

"You're Ladybug?" he whispered, incredulous.

She nodded.

He blinked once. "I can't believe I didn't see it." Both of them bursted into laughter at that. In retrospect, it was pretty obvious. The eyes, the hair. How they both often went missing during Akuma attacks, how they're never around when the alter ego was present, the surprising knowledge about their akumatized classmates. Then there were the smaller things: Marinette's signature freaking out gesture with her hands, Adrien's allergy to feathers.

Her eyes landed on Adrien's hand, and the silver ring on his finger. Had she really never noticed that before?

Tikki floated up beside Marinette, a grin plastered onto her face. Though, her eyes held an unsaid request. Marinette opened her bag and brought out a small bag of cookies before turning to Adrien. "How about we talk while our kwamis eat?"

He smiled. "I'd like that."

And so they took their seats on the couch while Tikki and Plagg hogged the table. The two kwamis exchanged greetings and adventures with their holders. Tikki commented on Plagg's love for cheese, Plagg poked fun at Tikki's affection for sweets. Adrien even requested that some ice-cream be brought into the room, one for everyone except Plagg.

As for Marinette and Adrien, they discussed how they found their Miraculouses, bewildered how both tales involved the assistance of a senior dressed in a red flower shirt. They talked about their difficulties in finding places to properly transform, coming up with cover stories to tell their teachers, how sometimes, they resorted to the bathroom excuse and agreed on how it was surprisingly effective.

After months of keeping most of this talk restricted for her kwami, Marinette found it refreshing to discuss the double-life with someone who shared similar experiences. It didn't even bother her that it was Adrien. Her heart and slowed in its erratic pattering, finally giving her a chance to just enjoy his company.

"I turn into Chat Noir to escape my chauffeur slash bodyguard from time to time," Adrien admitted. "Once, I tried to head to the cinema and ran straight into an akuma. Sort of."

"Puppeteer?"

"Yes." He paused. "That kid made an unexpectedly tough villain."

"She's tough enough to handle without the magic wand and puppets," said Marinette. "Though technically, the akuma was my fault. It's what I get for being swayed by puppy-dog eyes."

A smirk curled up Adrien's lips. "Would those work if I tried?"

Marinette simply shrugged, preferring to not answer that specific question. Instead she said, "I was grounded by my parents once."

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Was off getting cats down from trees and stopping helicopters." Those events had somehow managed to make it onto the Ladyblog and that was how Chat Noir found out about them. They both happened while Marinette just happened to be walking by and there wasn't an akuma in sight. But she there was no way she was going to leave a helicopter to crash if she could do something about it.

Silence slipped in between them. Eventually Adrien rested his back against the sofa and said, "You're amazing, Marinette. At everything. You probably don't need Chat Noir to deal with Akumas."

The words sent a spike through Marinette's chest. She had only heard Adrien voice his insecurities once, when they were playing Ultimate Mecha Strike III in her bedroom. It didn't matter. She hated whenever sorrow took over his expression.

"No, no, no!" she said hurriedly. "It's not like that at all!" Adrien seemed completely unconvinced by her words. Marinette's brain sorted through all her memories of Chat, trying to find something that would cheer him up.

"Hey," she said softly. "You remember Stoneheart?"

"Yeah."

"After I messed up the first time, I was convinced that I wasn't fit to be Ladybug. I failed once. I'll do it again. I'm clumsy, I'll just make everything worse. And then when police officer Roger pointed out, I was ready to back out of the job. But guess who convinced me otherwise."

Adrien's eyes flickered to hers, a spark of hope within them.

Marinette smiled. "You told me that without us, Paris won't make it. You asked me to trust you. So I did. And viola, the real Ladybug was born."

Adrien seemed to have brightened at that. "Come to think of it, was that the only time we've ever seen or heard Hawkmoth?"

"There were Volpina's illusions."

"Is that what Hawkmoth really looks like?"

Marinette bunched her shoulders. "Who knows." So they went on blabbering some more about akumas and judged some of them, though it consisted of Adrien admitting that he was impressed how Reflekta was able to get anything done in those high heels of hers.

They chatted until the skies were painted with orange and the dim darkness began to move in. At that point, Marinette figured it was time to head on home before her parents grew worried, and Adrien realized that he was about to be late for dinner. Not that anyone was waiting for him. Natalie would just grow suspicious otherwise.

Just as Marinette decided to get up, she found Adrien's eyes staring deep into her own. The familiar erratic pounding of her heart returned in an instant.

"I just realized that you don't stutter so much anymore," he said.

Marinette blinked. "Really? Maybe it's because I found out that the boy I've been crushing on since the start of school is actually my crime-fighting partner and one of my best friends, so having a normal conversation is no longer something I need to freak out about."

Adrien's face flushed bright crimson, and Marinette realized exactly what it was she had said. "Oh! I didn't–Did I just . . . Did I really say that?" She didn't wait for Adrien's response as she threw her arms over her head, letting a soft whine escape her. "This is a disaster." This might just be worse than the time she called him "Hot Stuff" over voice mail. She felt like shrinking behind something again.

A comforting hand fell on Marinette's shoulder. "It's quite catastrophic," he said, with very limited teasing in his tone. His demeanor quickly shifted into a boy bordering on very embarrassed. "If it makes you feel any better I haven't been able to stop thinking about Ladybug since I first met her."

She giggled at that as her cheeks grew warm. Now that she thought about it, their situation would have made a hilarious romantic comedy. "This is some criss-crossed love square," she said.

Adrien laughed, and suddenly, Marinette found herself back at the steps of the school on the second day of the semester, with the rain in the background as Adrien offered her his umbrella.

"Yeah, it is," Adrien managed to wheeze as his laughter melted into cheerful chuckles. His hand touched hers. It was only then Marinette realized how close Adrien was. And if her imagination wasn't playing tricks on her, she would say that he was actually shifting closer.

"Marinette . . ."

Something in her mind clicked. Marinette loved Adrien. Adrien was Chat Noir. That meant she loved Chat Noir. Chat Noir liked Ladybug, probably. That meant Adrien liked her.

Oh.

 _Oh._

Tikki's voice came out of nowhere. "Marinette!"

The girl jumped, accidentally ramming her forehead into Adrien's. "Ow! Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Adrien replied, rubbing his head a little. "I'm alright."

"I'm really sorry, Marinette," said Tikki, her tone half teasing, half serious. "But it's getting late and we should really be heading home before your parents get worried."

"Right, right." Marinette lifted herself to her feet. Her brain was still fuzzy and everything in her body felt jittery. But she could worry about that later. First priority was heading back to the bakery. "Tikki, spots on!"

The kwami entered her earrings and Marinette felt the familiar surge of magic and the texture of her Ladybug costume against her skin. She made her way to the open window, eventually turning to Adrien. "I guess I'll be taking my leave now."

"Wait!" He got up from his seat. "Plagg, claws out!"

And just like that, Chat Noir was now standing in front of her. Ladybug immediately grew perplexed. "You didn't have to transform. I'm just going home."

"I wanted to," Chat replied. It took him three steps to catch up to her at the window. "Just to make sure this isn't some incredible dream."

Marinette smiled. "Then this would be the best dream ever."

Chat Noir's–Adrien's finger was suddenly on her chin. "I'm thinking it's going to get better." And then he kissed her. In that moment, the rest of the world vanished. All Marinette could think of was the press of Adrien's lips against her own. It was awkward, clumsy and neither of them had any idea what they were doing. Not that she cared, even if she couldn't stop herself from laughing against his lips. "First kiss?"

Adrien chuckled nervously. "That obvious? I always thought I'd be a good kisser."

"First time isn't always the charm, Chat." She tapped the bell around his neck just once before throwing her arm forward, her yoyo finding a distant building to grab onto. She didn't know what possessed her to wink, but she did. "See you tomorrow."

Then with a tug, she pulled herself into the air above the streets of Paris, leaving a dazed Chat Noir standing beside the glass. Just as she made her landing, Marinette was pretty sure she heard his voice somewhere behind her, specifically the victorious shout of "YES!" coming from the Agreste mansion.

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I a-paw-logize for my lack of puns. :)


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